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lol degustibus. For the rest of us... if you did not understand deg's response, google "ghoti." You'll find some interesting thoughts on spelling in English also.

Manilavanilla, no existing word is completely a violation of spelling rules. It;s just that the rules are a bit more complex than you think. In the particular case of "colonel," the spelling is correct but the pronunciation is "incorrect." Mindbending, I know.

Oh and Taylor, I personally think the problem isn't with the exceptions, it's with the rules. In particular I think the ie, ei thing, like "colonel" has a lot to do with etymology and, if it were taught that way, would be a lot simpler. Depending on which language the word came from and how it was pronounced in that language, it is spelled a particular way.